Please, if you can, take a moment to read and share this because I feel like I'm screaming underwater.
NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) stigma is rampant right now, and seems to be getting progressively worse. Everyone is using it as a buzzword in the worst ways possible, spreading misinformation and hatred against a real disorder.
I could go on a long time about how this happened, why it's factually incorrect (and what the disorder actually IS), why it's harmful, and the changes I'd like to see. But to keep this concise, I'll simply link to a few posts under the cut for further reading.
The point of this post is a plea. Please help stop the spread of stigma. Even in mental health communities, even around others with personality disorders, in neurodivergent "safe" spaces, other communities I thought people would be supportive in (e.g. trans support groups, progressive spaces in general), it keeps coming up. So I'm willing to bet that a lot of people on this site need to see this.
Because it's so hard to exist in this world.
My disorder already makes me feel as if I'm worthless and unlovable, like there's something inherently wrong and damaged about me. And it's so much harder to fight that and heal when my daily life consists of:
Laughing and spending time with my friends, doing my utmost best to connect and stay present and focused on them, trying to let my guards down and be real and believe I'm lovable- when suddenly they throw out the word "narcissist" to describe horrible people or someone they hate, or the conversation turns to how evil "people with narcissistic personality disorder" are. (Seriously, you don't know which of your friends might have NPD and feels like shit when you say those things & now knows that you'd hate them if you knew.)
Trying to look up "mental health positivity for people with npd", "mental health positivity cluster bs", only to find a) none of that, and b) more of the same old vile shit that makes me feel terrible about myself.
Having a hard time (which is constant at this point) and trying to look up resources for myself, only to again, find the same stigma. And no resources.
Not having any clue how to help myself, because even the mental health field is spitting so much vitriol at people with DISORDERS (who they're supposed to be helping!) that there's no solid research or therapy programs for people like me.
Losing close friends when they find out, despite us having had a good relationship before, and them KNOWING me and knowing that I'm not like the trending image of pwNPD. Because now they only see me through the lens of stigma and misinformation.
Hearing the same stigma come up literally wherever I go. Clubs. Meetings. Any online space. At the bus stop. At the mall. At a restaurant. At work. Buzzword of the year that everyone loooves loudly throwing around with their friends or over the phone. Feels awesome for me, makes my day so much better/s
I could go on for a long time, but I'm scared no one will read/rb this if it gets too much longer.
So please. Stop using the word "narcissist" as a synonym for "abusive".
Stop bringing up people you hate who you believe to have NPD because of a stigmatizing article full of misinformation whenever someone with actual NPD opens their mouth. (Imagine if people did that with any other disorder! "Hey, I'm autistic." "Oh... my old roommate screamed at me whenever I made noise around him, and didn't understand my needs, which seems like sensory overload and difficulty with social cues. He was definitely autistic. But as long as you're self-aware and always restraining your innate desire to be an abusive asshole, you're okay I guess, maybe." ...See how offensive and ignorant that is?)
Stop preventing healthcare for people with a disorder just because it's trendy to use us as a scapegoat.
If you got this far, thank you for reading, and please share this if you can. Further reading is under the cut.
NPD Criteria, re-written by someone who actually has NPD
Stigma in the DSM
Common perception of the DSM criteria vs how someone may actually experience them (Keep in mind that this is the way I personally experience these symptoms, and that presentation can vary a lot between individuals)
"Idk, the stigma is right though, because I've known a lot of people with NPD who are jerks, so I'm going to continue to support the blockage of treatment for this condition."
(All of these were written by me, because I didn't want to link to other folks' posts without permission, but if you want to add your own links in reblogs or replies please feel free <3)
npd culture is seeing someone mass reblog/like my posts and getting a narc high because yesss they love me they liked all of my posts and then followed me they see how important and special I really am
-feral (if not taken)
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Fuck the stigma around NPD.
I love narcissists.
I want narcissists to succeed in life.
I want narcissists to find happiness.
I want narcissists to have healthy and effective support systems.
I want narcissists to be able to say they have their disorder, and it be treated the same way as someone saying they have autism or ADHD.
I want narcissists to take care of themselves.
Because that's what narcissists deserve.
Because narcissists are people.
Aside from my seething and raging I will say that I fucking love narcissists. You do not deserve the way the world treats you. You do not deserve being looked down on and shat on and dehumanized and threatened merely for having a traumatic condition beyond your control. You are good and there are people who love you. And I know it hurts sometimes, but that is okay. Itâs not your fault. You are not a monster. You are not an abuser. You are not evil or cruel nor are you some unstable unhinged child or whatever other ugly things others or your own brain wants to tell you. I love you, you deserve safety, and thereâs always gonna be people in your corner fighting for and fighting alongside you.
Unpopular opinion: It doesnât matter how much study you do. You will never know more about the experiences of a disorder than the person living with it does.
The dilemma of wanting to bitch and moan to someone, but you know it can make the crash 10 times worse if they don't act perfectly like you want them to.
you know what, shoutout to the neurodivergent people with "scary" symptoms.
the ones who:
-say dark things without realizing
-talk to themselves
-have homicidal thoughts
-get really, really angry
-make others uncomfortable on accident
-don't tolerate bullshit
-can't/won't mask
-have dark interests
-have genuinely hurt others before
-have been in a psych ward before
-obsess over people
-have intrusive thoughts about hurting people
-have sexual intrusive thoughts
-don't really care about others much
-always choose themselves first
-have low/no empathy
-are seen as creepy or scary by others
this goes out to my folks with autism that isn't "uwu cute". personality disorder havers. schizospec people. ocders. odd and ied havers. and anyone and everyone else.
this post does not support intentionally hurting people. but people who have hurt others in the past and have changed or are trying to change/in the process of changing are more than welcome here.
npd culture is getting called stupid in an internet argument over something really inane and still getting unreasonably mad over it, like how dare you call me that?? especially when everyone else in the replies was disagreeing with you?? go die genuinely
.
(Tw: post mentions RAMCOA, CSA, abuse, medical neglect and abelism)
- youâve been diagnosed your whole life
- youâve been researching your whole life
- they donât fit the DSM criteria exactly
- they are undiagnosed
- they are a minor
- they have a large system at a young age
- they donât feel safe getting diagnosed
- they donât talk about being a system
- they talk a lot about being a system
- theyâre fictive heavy
- theyâre factive heavy
- their host is a fictive
- they remember most of their days but not their trauma
- they donât remember anything
- they remember day to day life but donât remember trauma
- are happy as a system
- are unhappy as a system
- they do not have daily flashbacks
- they have âweirdâ triggers
- they are open about being triggered
- they donât say when triggered
- they are still learning about their system
- they have subsystems
- they are a RAMCOA survivor
- they are a victim of CSA
- they are frequently re-traumatised by their own thoughts
- they are neurodivergent
- they are not on medication
- they ARE on medication
- they were not abused daily
- they were abused daily
- they went through and are vocal about their biggest trauma being medical neglect
- they call out fake claiming as what it is, abelism
Nadia from The Circus Tent System
Sick and tired of narcissists being talked about like mythological wild animals. I just read something that described covert narcissists as âhighly defensive and extremely hostileâ. Iâm not a skittish dog. Why canât you put it as âtraumatised with extreme trust issuesâ like you would for any other less stigmatised disorder?
I love how narc abuse truthers use this as a comeback and believe that this proves any point as if wanting to be on the correct/right side of an argument isn't something that almost everyone wants
Crow | 29 | System | Diagnosed BPD | Questioning NPD | Physically Disabled
156 posts